FNTC: NEWS STORIES
FNTC to Support Taxing First Nations with OSRICI Application
On June 9, 2021, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) launched the “Own Source Revenue in Indigenous Communities Initiative” (OSRICI), designed to provide support to Indigenous communities that have suffered a decline in own-source revenue (OSR) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OSR includes property taxes, local revenues and other First Nation government revenues from agreements, businesses, and other sources. The OSRICI is providing $332.8 million in funding to partially offset declines in own-source revenues so that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities can continue to provide important community programs and services.
The FNTC has agreed to support taxing First Nations in applying to the OSRICI program. In the coming weeks, the FNTC will be contacting your tax administrator to offer support with the application process.
The deadline for applications is August 31, 2021. ISC Regional Offices will review OSRICI applications and determine the amount of funding for which First Nations are eligible.
For more information, please contact the FNTC: OSRICI-support@fntc.ca
OSRICI website (link): https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1623255117700/1623255147941
Statement by Chief Commissioner C.T. (Manny) Jules regarding the discovery on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School
Canadians are shocked and saddened by the discovery last week of the remains of 215 children buried on the site of the former grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, located within the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc.
The offices of the First Nations Tax Commission are just a few hundred meters from this tragic grave site. I am certain this will now become a forensic investigation.
This school was under Roman Catholic administration from 1890 until 1969. In the 1950’s attendance peaked at 500 students. I attended this school, as did my parents, many of my relatives, and life-long friends.
Over the years, we had heard rumors of unmarked graves on the reserve and were misled to believe that the children had simply run away. These children would have been from my community and over 20 other communities representing five nations – the Secwepemc, Okanagan, Nlakapamux, St’at’imc and Tsilhqot’in.
This is a deeply personal matter for all of us. My community is in mourning and will grieve and honour these children. There are ceremonies taking place across the country and my heart is thankful for the care of these precious souls.
There are many questions that have long gone unanswered, and we hope that this will now change. Our prayers and thoughts are with the spirits of the young ones, the families affected by this tragedy, as well as other survivors of the residential school system.
Kukwstsétsemc,
C.T. (Manny) Jules
Chief Commissioner
First Nations Tax Commission
Canterbury and Canada combine in online Indigenous Economics course
A cohort of First Nations students from the Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics in British Columbia, Canada, and students from the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand, have been studying Indigenous Economics together virtually, in a pilot course.
The Ngāi Tahu Research Centre (NTRC) collaborated with the Tulo Centre to deliver a unique course in Indigenous Economics with 16 First Nation Canadian students joining a Ngāi Tahu cohort of 16 late last month.
“The idea was if this pilot was successful then we would work towards refining the course and looking to get future credits cross credited to UC,” says NTRC Director Associate Professor Te Maire Tau, who is also Ngāi Tūāhuriri Upoko.
Leading the Canadian side, C.T. (Manny) Jules is the Chief Commissioner of the First Nations Tax Commission based in Kamloops, British Columbia. He is a leading figure in getting Canada’s First Nations people independence over their tax affairs, and says tax autonomy forms a vital part in self-determination and entrepreneurship.
“We share the Pacific Ocean. We share the wealth, life and imagination the ocean has brought to our lands. The waka and the canoe, symbols of teamwork and determination, have brought us to new and different places. Our ancestors, shining through the North Star and Southern Cross, have connected us to work together and learn from one another,” he says.
“Market economies were not foreign to us. We created them ourselves. We traded goods over hundreds of miles. The Mayan had a complex trade network,” Jules says.
“How could pipestone, dating back to before contact end up in my territory in South Central British Columbia when it only comes from a few places such as Pipestone, Minnesota if we did not trade? How could corn be used all throughout the Americas before contact, if we did not trade?”
The pilot course, delivered via virtual delivery, is a foundational course in Tulo Centre’s Applied Economics Programme and included students from Indigenous communities in Canada and New Zealand. In the course, students investigated topics related to Indigenous self-governance and economic development globally, with particular focus on Canada and New Zealand. Topics included the impact of Covid-19 on Indigenous communities and economies; pre-contact Indigenous institutions, innovations and economies; the destruction of Indigenous institutions; systemic issues and gaps impacting Indigenous communities; the economic rationale for implementing Indigenous government and jurisdiction; Indigenous resource management; Indigenous fiscal powers; and creative destruction and the formula for change. The course was capped off with the Tulo Centre’s Building a Sustainable Indigenous Economy game.
- Manny Jules was interviewed on RadioNZ recently, talking about how he recovered 45,000 acres of his tribe’s reserve lands and how he’s driven legislative reform in the country.
- Part of the WORD Christchurch Spring Festival, Associate Professor Te Maire Tau joins fellow UC academics in discussing the new CUP book A Long Time Coming: The story of Ngāi Tahu’s treaty settlement negotiations, which shines a light, for both Māori and Pākehā, on a crucial part of this country’s history. Join the author UC Ngāi Tahu Research Centre Lecturer Dr Martin Fisher, along with UC Adjunct Professor Tā Tipene O’Regan, and former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson, as they discuss a claim that spanned two centuries.
Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics
The mission of the Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics is to assist interested Indigenous governments in building legal and administrative frameworks that support markets on their lands. www.tulo.ca
Ngāi Tahu Research Centre
The Ngāi Tahu Research Centre (NTRC) was founded for the purpose of being a leader in Indigenous scholarship and to provide a centre for the intellectual capital and development of Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori iwi of the southern region of New Zealand. https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/ntrc/
For further information please contact:
UC Communications
All media enquiries are directed to the UC Communications team.
Email media@canterbury.ac.nz for media enquiries (business hours, Monday – Friday)
Call 03 369 3631 for media enquiries (business hours, Monday – Friday)
Call 027 503 0168 for urgent media enquiries (after-hours, Monday – Sunday)
Proposed Procedures Respecting the Approval of First Nation Local Revenue Laws, 2020
Procedures are established by the First Nations Tax Commission (Commission) to provide transparent and efficient processes for the approval of local revenue laws by the Commission to assist the Commission in fulfilling its statutory obligations under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (the “Act”).
Under the Act, the Commission reviews and approves laws. Subsection 35(2) of the Act provides that the Commission may establish procedures respecting the “submission for approval” of local revenue laws and “approval of those laws.” In June 2009, the Commission approved the Procedures Respecting the Approval of First Nation Local Revenue Laws (Approval Procedures). They were further amended in September 2016.
As a matter of policy, the Commission seeks public input prior to introducing or significantly amending its Procedures. This input is critical in developing procedures that are efficient and acceptable for participating First Nations and their taxpayers.
Earlier this year, a review of the Approval Procedures was carried out to determine ways to improve clarity and remove unnecessary administrative requirements. As a result of this review, the Commission is proposing to replace the existing Approval Procedures.
Changes to the Approval Procedures include how the Commission may postpone law review where a law is non-compliant with the Act. Where a law review is postponed, a First Nation may amend an original law or replace it with a new law, and that the Commission may proceed with review and approval consideration of the amending law and original law, or a new law. The proposed Approval Procedures remove the requirement for the Commission to:
• notify the First Nation of the necessary amendments;
• advise the First Nation of whether identified amendments are not significant in the context of subsections 6(2) and 8(2) of the Act; and
• set a time frame for the making and submission of an amending law.
Additional changes include section 1.1 which is updated to clarify that the Commission will review “accompanying information required by section 8 of the Act” in its review and consideration of approval of the submitted law, and section 5, which would separate the provisions dealing with compliance of sections 6 and 8 of the Act.
The Commission is seeking public input in respect of these proposed Approval Procedures. If you wish to learn more about the proposed changes, please contact the FNTC at mail@fntc.ca or by telephone toll free at 1 (855) 682-3682. Electronic versions of the proposed Approval Procedures (changes are highlighted in red) are available at www.fntc.ca or by clicking the link below:
Proposed Procedures Respecting the Approval of First Nation Local Revenue Laws, 2020
Please direct your written comments on or before November 30, 2020 to:
First Nations Tax Commission
321-345 Chief Alex Thomas Way
Kamloops BC
V2H 1H1
Telephone: 1 (855) 682-3682
Fax: (250) 828-9858
Email: mail@fntc.ca
Chief Commissioner Speaks to Radio New Zealand
Chief Commissioner Jules discusses the importance of First Nation jurisdiction with Radio New Zealand Host, Julian Wilcox.